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Loading... Kafka On The Shore (original 2002; edition 2005)by Haruki Murakami
Work InformationKafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2002)
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"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami is a puzzling and captivating novel that enlaces multiple narratives, blurring the lines between reality and dreams, and exploring themes of identity, loneliness, and the search for meaning. The premise is brilliant: Kafka Tamura, a teenage boy who runs away from home to escape his father's curse, and Nakata, an elderly man who lost his memory in a childhood accident and possesses the ability to communicate with cats. Filled with mysterious occurrences, symbolic imagery, and philosophical musings, Murakami's prose is richly atmospheric, drawing readers into a surreal world where magical realism and mundane reality coexist seamlessly while inviting the reader to ponder the nature of existence and the interconnectedness of all things. Itâs strength is that it does not provide easy answers or neatly tie up its narrative threads. Murakami revels in ambiguity, leaving many questions unanswered and encouraging interpretation of the story's events in a unique and immersive way. ( ) Iâm having a difficult time trying to explain the 3 stars. Lots of people love this book. It just wasnât for me. Before Kafka on the Shore, I only knew Murakami through his short stories...stories I loved! So Iâm not sure what happened with this book...it was mostly a page turner, but I grew bored toward the end. This is very enjoyable, but slightly frustrating, Murakami. So much stuff just doesn't quite come together enough. I've read a bit around the book afterwards, which suggests that maybe there is some underlying meaning; but I also haven't found that structure, so I suspect maybe there really isn't. Still very enjoyable, though not great as an entry-level book. More in the vein of Hard-Boiled Wonderland than Wind-Up Bird or Norwegian Wood.
The weird, stately urgency of Murakami's novels comes from their preoccupation with . . . internal problems; you can imagine each as a drama acted out within a single psyche. In each, a self lies in pieces and must be put back together; a life that is stalled must be kick-started and relaunched into the bruising but necessary process of change. Reconciling us to that necessity is something stories have done for humanity since time immemorial. Dreams do it, too. But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it's the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves. Maar net zoals in de rest van Murakamiâs omvangrijke oeuvre blijft het niet bij het wegloop-realisme van de hoofdpersoon. Onverklaarbare wendingen, bovennatuurlijke verschijnselen, irreĂ«le toevalligheden en onwaarschijnlijke personages roepen bij de nuchtere lezer al snel de vraag op waarom hij in godsnaam maar blijft dóórlezen. Kafka Tamura se va de casa el dĂa en que cumple quince años. La razĂłn, si es que la hay, son las malas relaciones con su padre, un escultor famoso convencido de que su hijo habrĂĄ de repetir el aciago sino del Edipo de la tragedia clĂĄsica, y la sensaciĂłn de vacĂo producida por la ausencia de su madre y su hermana, a quienes apenas recuerda porque tambiĂ©n se marcharon de casa cuando era muy pequeño. El azar, o el destino, le llevarĂĄn al sur del paĂs, a Takamatsu, donde encontrarĂĄ refugio en una peculiar biblioteca y conocerĂĄ a una misteriosa mujer mayor, tan mayor que podrĂa ser su madre, llamada Saeki. Si sobre la vida de Kafka se cierne la tragedia âen el sentido clĂĄsicoâ, sobre la de Satoru Nakata ya se ha abatido âen el sentido realâ: de niño, durante la segunda guerra mundial, sufriĂł un extraño accidente que lo marcarĂa de por vida. En una excursiĂłn escolar por el bosque, Ă©l y sus compañeros cayeron en coma; pero sĂłlo Nakata saliĂł con secuelas, sumido en una especie de olvido de sĂ, con dificultades para expresarse y comunicarse... salvo con los gatos. A los sesenta años, pobre y solitario, abandona Tokio tras un oscuro incidente y emprende un viaje que le llevarĂĄ a la biblioteca de Takamatsu. Vidas y destinos se van entretejiendo en un curso inexorable que no atiende a razones ni voluntades. Pero a veces hasta los orĂĄculos se equivocan. âHurra!â âEt stort verk, men likevel lekende lett lesning.â AwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Fantasy.
Fiction.
Literature.
HTML:NATIONAL BESTSELLER â?ą From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the worldâ??s greatest storytellers comes "an insistently metaphysical mind-benderâ? (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and an aging simpleton. Here we meet 15-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata, who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. â??As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a striking experience in consciousness expansion.â? â??The Chicag No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)895.635Literature Literature of other languages Asian (east and south east) languages Japanese Japanese fiction 1945â2000LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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